Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-25

bly have become wretched and de
pressed while Herbert is away"
Just about six o'clock Mrs. Dalton
returned.
'Is Herbert in !" she asked, as she
threw off her mantle and united hel
bonnet-strings. There was. the
faintest flush on either cheek that
might have been caused by the autumn
nal wind, but seemed to rise from sup
pressed excitement.
Decidedly, Lucy is ill.," Edith de.
termined as she replied in the mega
tive; but she said nothing, only re-
solved that during Mr.. Dalton's forth
coming absence she would take her
friend in hand and doctor her.
AT dinner time Edith, watching her,
saw the evident effort made by the
young wife to appear cheerful and
easy, and was surprised that Mr.. Dal-
ton did not seem to be aware that any
thing was wrong.
"I certainly shall not enlighten
him." she declared to herself, "but
| will see what | can do with Lucy
when he is gone. Ignorance is bliss
| is such a case as this. Why, he
would fret himself to fiddlestrings if
he thought she were ill.,"
When the morning arrived which
witnessed Mr.. Dalton's departure to
the North, Edith noticed more than
ever that her friend was laboring un-
der some emotion which was not
unconnected, so it seemed to her, with
excitement.
Edith withdrew to let the couple
say farewell. AS she went into the
drawing-room her thoughts flew for
the first time to her father and his
marriage scheme"
'I suppose 1 had better write and
tell the poor old man that consent to
meet MIR. Rochdale. 1t can do no
harm, at any rate. and I can't possibly
marry him without seeing him first.
1 will go home at the end OF this
week"
The first day of Mr.. Dalton's abb
sence passed much as usual. On the
second, Mrs. Dalton drove out with
her friend and child, and did some
shopping. As they returned to the
comfortable villa near Regents Park
they met a woman carrying a parcel
in her hand, evidently bound for a
journey.
"Why, that is Parker, is it not ?"
Edith said suddenly, els she going
away, Lucy"'
Parker was the housemaid at the
villa.
eyes," Mrs. Dalton murmured
stopping with a hurried gesture to
push some parcels on to the seat op-
posite. "She has been wanting to go
home for some time, and l thought
now Herbert was away it was a good
chahce to give her a holiday"
| Edith acquiesced in this, and did
not observe Lucy's face flush crimson
and then fade to deadly pallor as she
spoke; indeed at that moment they
turned in at the gates; and Parker
was forgotten.
The two women dined rather drear-
lily, for Lucy was strangely dull, and
Edith was suddenly attacked by an
unusual and disagreeable toothache.
"Why not go to bed, Edith" Mrs.
Dalton suggested as the clock struck
nine, and they were back in the draw
ing-room.
Edith felt desperately cross with
herself. "a nice person l am to cheer
anyone up" she thought viciously.
trivial and painful an ailment should
visit her when she was the possessor
of so rarely white and even a set OF
teeth. She was not easily beaten, but
after half an hour had gone, during
which she had been too uncomfortable
to notice the strange, restless manner
in which Lucy fidgeted about, she
threw up the spunge and declared for
bed.
"Let me bring you some brandy
and-water, and it will make you
Sleep" was Mrs. Dalton's eager re-
quest.
And Edith was obliged to permit her
friend to perform this charitable Office
and see her to her room. Sne babe
Lucy good night, and after a wild
desire to bang her head against the
wall, drank the brandy without a
shudder, and after short while
dropped off into delightful slumber,
in which every twinge of pain was
| lost. All at once she awoke with a
start, and her heart beat in an uneven
fashion she sat up in bed and looked
at her watch-just IL O'Clock she had
slept, then, over two hours soundly,
and the refractory tooth was subdued.
She was slipping her watch under her
pillow when again she started; it had
been no delusion; footsteps were
passing down the landing. Like
lightning Edith was out of bed and had
thrown on her dressing-gown. Her
courage faltered for moment, for
Edith was only girl, and hideous
stories of pistols and hasty shooting by
latter-day burglars came to her mind ;
but it was only for moment; then
taking her candles in hand, she went
as noiselessly as possible to the head
of the stairs and passed down.. All
was still and from the Pickering light
of the hall-lamps she could see there
was no one left as sentinel or spy; SO
she determined, not without curious
sensation at her heart, to creep boldly
down, reconnoitre, and then go back
and rouse the house. She made very
little noise descending, and at last
stood in the hall. The voice was still
faint, and she paused to listen before
proceeding. The next instant she was
at the dining-room door, and had
thrown it wide open.
A smothered woman's shrek and
an oath greeted her, and lump
seemed to rise in her throat.
"Lucy." she said, in choked, hard
ly audible tones, "your child is up
stairs and needs you at once"
Without word, but with face as
white as death, Lucy passed her in
the doorway, and the quick step up
the stairs testified to the existence of
the mothers sudden dread and pain.
The man left thus stranded was
young, of dark. handsome type, at
tired in evening dress.
|